On my mind... when is enough enough?

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join, courtesy of Rhonda's Down to Earth Blog. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY. If you're in another country you should join in when you read this, even if it's still Thursday.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Rhonda's blog. Please visit all the blogs that appeal to you and leave a comment. Slow down, take the time to cruise around and enjoy your cyber visits.

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Last night I had to head back to a house that I also visited a few weeks ago now as a favour for a volunteer organisation that I assist.  

I thought about the house when I was first there - god, it seemed HUGE!  Last night I confirmed it - it IS huge!  Seriously - you could have 100 people inside the living area (which is sort of set up in zones but all in one large room) and not notice how many people were inside... 

I got to see downstairs in the guest room - it's as large as our lounge/dining/entrance and hallway all put together!  It comes off a huge media room with a full sized billiard table in it.  The kids' bedrooms were off a huge area with the biggest TV I've ever seen in my life... and I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the idea.

I would love a house that big.  I really would...  Well, I think I thought I did....

This house was what I thought I really wanted.  It was huge, minimalistic and not much stuff out - but what was out was all impersonal decoration sorts of things, and nothing that showed it was anything but a house. 

Hmmmmm - is that what I want??? 

I came home and looked at the warmth in our house.  Our house is probably 1/10 the size of this one (and ours isn't all THAT small) but it had such a different feel to it.  Like I was sitting in a foyer of a fancy hotel.  As for the TV - how do you watch a TV properly that's that big???

Nope - that's not what I want. 

On my mind... a new lifestyle?

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join, courtesy of Rhonda's Down to Earth Blog. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY. If you're in another country you should join in when you read this, even if it's still Thursday.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Rhonda's blog. Please visit all the blogs that appeal to you and leave a comment. Slow down, take the time to cruise around and enjoy your cyber visits.

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On Wednesday, I went to see Dr Vivienne Taylor at Ibuki Health in Noosa.  Gayle, one of the Security Guards at work had told me about her, and how fantastic she had been, the time that she had spent with her (over 1 hour) and how confident she felt that the Dr could help her back to feeling good again.  It's taken a couple of months to get into see her, but I now think the wait was worth it.

She has talked to me about how I feel in lots of detail.  Now don't get me wrong - I am not hugely unwell.  I'm just not...  "right" I think is the correct word. 

I yawn and feel tired all day, I go to sleep and don't stay asleep, I feel... well... blah.

We talked at length about my thyroid issues and the Rheumatoid Arthritis, and she linked quite a few things back to those diseases, and then made the connection with the symptoms that I am feeling. 

It was amazing...

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that she had a lot of blood tests she wants me to go and have.  She also provided me some suupplements to take.  (she's a regular GP but looks at life holistically - herbs, supplements, as well as conventional medicine).  The next piece of information though was one that I'm only just getting my head around now:

"I believe that you will benefit from being wheat free, or even going so far as to be gluten free". 

Whoa!  I don't have any problems with wheat or gluten... do I???  Maybe I do....  I feel sluggish, my body doesn't work well, I'm tired...  You know - all that STUFF that you feel but nothing you can put your finger on. 

Errrr....

I cut soy out of my life a few years ago, and felt much better for doing it.  It's now at the stage where I can eat a bit of soy but not too much, and have no reaction.  I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to do that with wheat and gluten, but I don't know. 

I was just walking back from the canteen, and thinking that it would be nice to not have the feeling of such tiredness and heavy arms & legs all the time.  I'm going to give it a go - I've been doing a bit of research on it, and what I can and can't eat.  I don't think it'll be too bad, I know I'll miss bread though.  I'm looking forward to eating a lot more basically - fresh veggies & meats, legumes, nuts etc.  I'll have to extract my digit and make sure that I get organised, and go to the farmers markets more than I do currently.  I'm sure if I get organised I'll be just fine.

Do you have any suggestions?  Are you gluten or wheat free???  I would love to hear any suggestions you have!!!

It's not all about being quiet!!!

I read a quite a few blogs about simple living, about simplifying lives, about decluttering and so on. 

One that I read this morning had me thinking for quite a while about what the person had written.  They had taken on an office bearers job, and so they had spent part of the weekend "quietly" organising themselves for this. 

I pondered on this, because my life isn't always quiet.  Wow - it's sometimes an absolute whirlwind!!!  That doesn't mean that I don't have quiet time, not at all - it's just that I don't feel I have to do everything quietly in order to have the space in my mind and life that I am working towards. 

I don't want to be old - and to me, being quiet all the time says "old" to me.  It implies that you don't show excitement by jumping up and down and squealing, you don't have the music on as you go about the things you have to do in your home (unless it's ABC Radio National type music...) etc.  That's not me. 

Oh boy, that's SO not me.

I like noise.  I like music.  I like it when my life is sometimes zooming around at 1000 klm/h...  I just don't like it ALL the time. 

I had a nice mix of both over the weekend.  On Saturday morning I got up after a wild storm, & went to sewing.  The storm was just incredible - lots and lots of lightening, and plenty of heavy thunder and rain to go with it.  I woke up at a bit after 4.00 am to all the noise, and enjoyed laying in bed and watching the light show and the soundtrack to go with it.  I fell asleep again about 6.30 am, and then dragged myself out of bed about 7.30 am.  I should have just gotten up rather than going back to sleep!!!

Anyway, at sewing I spent most of my day on my knees pinning my quilt.  It's looking good!  I am going to have to get some more pins and then do some more pinning - I ran out!!! 

Sunday morning, I got up, unloaded the dishwasher, and was making myself a cup of tea & I got a text from Belinda.  She was un-enthused about having to pack to move out of the house that she and Simon had shared.  I headed over and gave her a hand for a couple of hours - really, she had very little in my view!!!  We soon had it packed and stacked in the spare bedroom, ready for Friday when she'll move.  Belinda is like me and loves gorgeous antique china and glassware, so it was lovely to look at her pretty things, too. 

On the way home I came via the mountains, and popped into the IGA in the next town to us, then went via our town to look in a new little Antique shop that's opened up.  They have some very pretty things, and I thought that their prices were very reasonable indeed.  I wound up purchasing an old rolling pin for Belinda as a housewarming present - I know it seems an odd gift, but she had commented that she didn't like her rolling pin as she was packing it, and she does quite a bit of cooking and baking, and loves old "stuff" as well, hence I chose it.  I hope she likes it!

I came home, and Ken was just getting out of bed.  He finished at 6.00 am and went surfing with a couple of friends from work, and then came home and had a sleep for a couple of hours.  We pottered around at home for a bit, and then headed off to Lance and Christine's home for a BBQ.  They've spent such a lot of time lately in Adelaid, I commented that it felt like FOREVER since I'd seen them!  Anyway, we had a lovely evening and came home about 9.15 pm, and Ken fell straight into bed. 

I wasn't long behind him, and fell asleep trying to read a magazine.

Freezer Inventory

I have always been against making a freezer inventory, or a meal plan.  I always justified it by saying that "I don't want to be restricted to what I eat" and "I know what's in the freezer"....

Well. 

I did (kind of) know what was in the freezer, but let me tell you - when it's laid out in front of you on the floor or on the kitchen bench, or written down on paper, it's a whole different story!  We have a LOT in the freezers!  Time to eat it up!!!

6 full corned beef silversides
1 full rib fillet (whole)
6 kilograms of prawns
15 Chicken schnitzels
9 Lamb cutlets
Lime juice
Lemon juice
Orange juice
Mango juice
Mulberries
Passionfruit
Chook carcasses
Fritz (from South Australia)
and on and on and on it goes....  We have, believe it or not, 4 full freezers.  One on top of the drinks fridge, one on the kitchen fridge, a chest freezer and a tiny upright on loan.  No wonder our electricity bill is high!

So - I now have 4 spreadsheets that are all printed out and ready to go.  Not sure what I'll do with them - maybe I'll sticky tape them to the front of each freezer and so that way it can easily be crossed off when it's eaten. 

Boy I'll be cranky if I've done all this work and while I'm away the boys muck it up!!!

I pulled everything out of the deep freeze & laid it all out on the floor in the garage.  I sorted as best I could - "like with like" and then decided where things were going...

This is partly why the freezers were so full.  I went to Meat City at Caboolture on Tuesday and stocked up.  This is only $130 worth of meat!  That's a great price! 

On my mind... the results of my weekend away concentrating on my sewing!

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join, courtesy of Rhonda's Down to Earth Blog. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY. If you're in another country you should join in when you read this, even if it's still Thursday.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Rhonda's blog. Please visit all the blogs that appeal to you and leave a comment. Slow down, take the time to cruise around and enjoy your cyber visits.

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I had such a lovely weekend away with the ladies from sewing group! 



It wasn't all hard work!!!!!



First of all, I made a pair of pants for my good friend Victoria.  She had a stroke several years ago, and it left her with her left arm paralysed and she also needs a stick to walk with.  She has made a miraculous recovery, and now lives on her own with a small amount of community assistance.  Anyway, I was getting some material together to make a pair of pants for myself, and she said that she would like a pair herself, but needed a couple of adjustments to counteract the fact that she only has the use of one arm. 

She’s a purple girl, so purple they were!

They didn’t take anywhere as near as long as I thought they might – so then I faffed around for a bit trying to decide what I was going to do next, and finally I just decided to “get on with it”, so I pulled out the quilt that I started quite a while ago.  I had made the 20 blocks from the centre, and that was as far as I had gotten, so it was time to get on with turning it into a quilt!

I trimmed up the quilts to get them to size – 15 inches square.  Then I put them all out on the floor so that I could look at what they looked like together.  I moved a few around and was happy with the final look, so then I sewed them all together. 

The next step was to cut out the border of raspberry, then the strippy border, and sew them together and onto the quilt – done!

I ran out of time then – I had to come home from the retreat at 1.00 pm because my dear friend’s father died in Sydney and I had a 5.15 pm flight from the Sunshine Coast to Sydney to attend the funeral.  I will continue with my quiltmaking tomorrow at my monthly sewing group meeting, so I have bought a can of adhesive binding spray to hold it all together until I have quilted it.  I’m really looking forward to the next part!!! 

I’m starting to feel a little cramped again at home – it’s time to pick up on the decluttering again and get on with it.  I think that will form part of my activities this weekend.  I’m also coming to the realisation that I need a list of what is in the freezer.  **gulp**

Menu planning and freezer inventories are something that I haven’t done before.  I am now starting to cook up extra meals so that when I go away in November/December, the boys will have food to eat.  The chest freezer is getting a bit full, so I think it might be time to be pulling things out and looking at them and writing down what they are and sorting them into an easy system for the boys to get to the food.  They tend to have boy looks at things rather than girl looks, and overlook the fact that there’s actually heaps of food in the freezer!  I hope this might make it easier – I will have to make sure though that it’s updated as things are taken out!!!

As for the decluttering, there’s a box in the study that I’d like to be rid of.  I think that will be my focus for the weekend also, along with the mandatory bill paying!!!

I am really enjoying slowing down and spending more time doing things for me in my home.  I feel more balanced at work and at home if everything is organised and calm, and I have time for my own creative pursuits.  I seem to be making headway in the “making place for space” in my life, which was the whole idea of the blog – to keep myself accountable!!!

Have a gorgeous weekend everyone! 

On my mind... a weekend away with my sewing group

This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join, courtesy of Rhonda's Down to Earth Blog. It opens the door to us sharing our lives through these photos and gives us all a new way to discover each other, and maybe form new friendships. Your photo should show something at home that you're thinking about TODAY. If you're in another country you should join in when you read this, even if it's still Thursday.

To take part, all you have to do is post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to Rhonda's blog. Please write a new post, don't link to an older one. When your photo is published, come back and add a comment below, with a link to your blog photo so we can all find you. Please visit all the blogs that appeal to you and leave a comment. Slow down, take the time to cruise around and enjoy your cyber visits.

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A few years ago when I decided I wanted to learn to be more crafty, and in particular I wanted to learn how to sew, I stumbled upon the Australian Sewing Guild's Pomona group and joined up. 

It was a wonderful group of women who have such fantastic knowledge that they are only too happy to share with anyone who wants to learn.  I have certainly benefited from that willingness to share, and I hope I've been able to give a little back to the group in other ways. 

This is our meeting - every month we get together and do stuff - it's a lovely environment together. 
We use our local Lion's Club Den - they are very kind to share it with us.

The lady on the left is the creator of this gorgeous quilt!

The group decided in May that it wasn't getting the value from the Australian Sewing Guild that it wanted, so we have simply formed our own neighbourhood craft/sewing group.  We still pay a fee each year, but it goes to what WE want, rather than what the Tewantin Sewing Guild want and we had to tag along to...

Anyway, so this weekend we are heading off on a retreat, to Tin Can Bay.  A retreat is where you go away for a weekend and you take your sewing/craft/whatever, and you don't have to cook, or clean, or do anything other than your chosen craft, all weekend.  How absolutely decadent will this be!  My wonderful (kind of) sister in law is coming with me, and I think there'll be 6 or 8 of us all up for the weekend - delightful!

I have taken some crochet and some sewing.  I am really enjoying getting into crochet at the moment.  I want to make a new start on a floppy beret cap for a friend, I want to see if I can finish off some more of my milk jug cover (I've packed my glasses for THAT one!!!) and perhaps I'll do some more on the towel toppers that I've recently figured out how to do. 

This is the milk jug cover that I'm making.  I'm a bit further along now than I was when I took this photo! 
I'm using a 0.75 mm hook, and it's size 20 cotton...  I have to wear my glasses when I'm doing this one!

On the sewing front, I have my quilt to get back into, plus I'd like to make some 3/4 pants for my friend Victoria.  She loves purple, so if I could have them done for Christmas for her, that would be just so great!  I promise I'll take some photo's of the weekend and share with you next week...

The glass ceiling...

So – here at work we thrive on challenging ourselves and others to do better.  We call it “respectful challenge” – it’s supposed to be done respectfully to the person, however it also doesn’t skite around the issue or what needs to happen.

So – what is it about women that feel the need when they are promoted, or in a position of some influence, that they need to suddenly put on men pants and start being the bloke?  I just don’t get it.

It’s kind of like it’s not okay any more to be a woman, with the softer side – all of a sudden, you have to be a straight faced bitch that barges over everyone, male or female.  And, while we’re barging, lets’ not let anyone else get a word in edgeways...

Thank goodness we also have feedback in our workplace culture, and the feedback on what others thought of that persons behaviour always arrives.  For today though, I'm over it.